You don't have to do this
by Vogon Widow
Summary: It dawned on him that this could just be a show, but he knew Ember - she would never swallow her pride like this, not even to get the better of an opponent. This was real. He had actually wounded her ego in such a way that she would give up on trying to rock the world or whatever... And then he knew what to say: "You know, you don't have to do this."


Somewhere on Earth, there was immense peace. Peace the likes of which had never been experienced by a human mind. Tranquility as far as the mind could comprehend. Serenity. Harmony. The likes.

But this was not that place.

A green ecto-ray shot across the horizon of Amity-Ville, followed by another, and another, and then suddenly a large volley of them. Said ecto-rays were accompanied by the frustrated swears of the oh so popular Ghost Zone's own pop star: Ember McLain , who was currently in the midst of a... *ahem* 'battle' with the world famous half human half ghost, Danny Phantom.

Danny grinned as he dodged every last one of the angry rock diva's attacks with speed she had never before seen him use.

She knew this fight was already over - she knew it the moment he practically phased onto the stage of her concert not with a teleportation, but with his speed alone and then blasted the entire stage apart with a ghost wail. But Ember McLain was not the type of gal to give up so easily. Especially when her plans of total global conquest were at stake. And ESPECIALLY when someone was being a show off! Someone other than her!

Danny had not taken a single hit this entire fight. For the past 30 minutes he had done nothing but toy with Ember. He probably could have just easily flew up to her in a split second and knocked her out with a single tap and then sucked her into the thermos that the denizens of the Ghost zone loathed so fervently.

But he didn't. And Ember didn't know why. And that bothered her, because she knew: he WAS just toying with her.

And nobody toys with Ember.

Her hair had already died down, a physical showcase of her waning power, but with a howl of frustration, she pushed every bit of power she had into a single ray, causing her hair to momentarily spark up like a blow torch and then fizzle out even more.

This ray was cast aside without so much as a passing look by her adversary.

Had Ember not been so angry and annoyed, she probably would have given it to Danny: the boy had definitely grown more powerful since the Disasteroid incident that happened a few months ago, but she was far too angry to process such a thought.

Danny simply stood (or more accurately - floated) there in the midst of the darkened sky, either dodging her attacks, or just outright smacking them away without so much as a flinch. It was like he was on a whole other level than her. She had heard rumors in the Zone, about how Danny had grown to be possibly the most powerful Ghost ever with the guiding hand of Clockwork, but she didn't believe them, until now.

Even with the entire world chanting her name she didn't think she would be able to defeat him at this point. And it was with that final thought that she finally did it:

Ember Mclain surrendered.

She stopped mindlessly firing her rays at Danny and just floated there, throwing her guitar on her back and panting heavily in exhaustion. She simply did not have the energy, emotionally and physically, to continue this... it definitely did not help that just realized that with Danny being so powerful, she would probably never get a chance at rocking the world again. And that hurt.

Pausing, she frowned. Her look of defeat turning to one of dejection and sadness.

"Alright, fine." She threw up her hands. "I give up. Whatever. Just throw me into the damn canteen and let me go rot in the Zone. I can't win this. It's all over. No more concerts. I will just give up on the dream, AGAIN."

...

Danny raised a brow, his smirk turning kind of sour. He had never before heard Ember speak in a way like that. She actually gave up. Never before had that happened. And he had fought her atleast thirty times. Infact, with Vlad being gone, he would almost consider her a nemesis.

"You give up?" He said, as if he heard her wrong.

She scowled. "Yeah! I give up. Whatever. You win. You're the strongest. Send me back to the Zone where I will stay and rot. I will never rock out again. The dream is dead."

He frowned.

Danny knew he had grown powerful, and he knew during their "fight" he was toying with her an awful lot, but he didn't think it would lead to this. Being the good natured soul he was, he actually kind of felt bad for her now. He definitely didn't mean to hurt her feelings. He really just treated this more as a sport more than anything.

"Uh..." He didn't know what to say.

Ember simply looked off into space dejectedly.

It dawned on him that this could just be a show, but he knew Ember - she would never swallow her pride like this, not even to get the better of an opponent. This was real. He had actually wounded her ego in such a way that she would give up on trying to rock the world or whatever... And then he knew what to say:

"You know..." He phased over infront of her, and she opened her eyes. "You don't have to do this."

She growled. "What? Do what? Talk to you? I know. So let me go back to the zone and you'll never see me again."

He shook his head. "No. I mean, you don't have to do... That."

He pointed over to the remains of the stage he had dismantled with his wail. "You don't have to try to mind control people into liking your music Ember. You could just play normally."

She rose a brow and then shrugged. "Why do you even care? Aren't we enemies?"

He returned her shrug. "I mean... We don't have to be? I honestly have no problem with you coming up here to have concerts. It's just the 'I need to mind control the world for no reason' part I have a problem with."

She laughed bitterly. "No reason, huh? Well here is my reason, you condescending jerk: I want to be remembered. I was forgotten about in my life, and now I have the ability to make them remember. So I will... Or I would if you weren't in the picture."

He chuckled, much to her annoyance. "Well I hate to tell you this Ember but I am not going away. You can either play your music normally without the mind control, or I can keep kicking you back into the Zone. It is your choice. And you know what? I will even admit: I like your music. I would hate to see it go away. Plus, you are great at it. Trust me when I say you'll definitely be remembered for playing normally. I mean hey, think of it this way - you would practically be the only Ghost Rockstar. Now that everyone knows about Ghosts I bet they'd love to see you even more."

Ember's mouth dropped open. She couldn't believe her ears.

Danny would allow her to play her music? AND he liked her music? And she would be the first Ghost Rockstar? She hadn't even considered that! She would be remembered in the rock and roll hall of history for that! ...Also, he liked her music!?

She grinned sheepishly at him, rubbing her elbow awkwardly, unsure of how to respond to her enemy praising her.

"Hold up a bit dipstick... You are telling me, if I were to give up the control the world biz, I would be allowed up here to rock out? And you like my music?"

He nodded, smiling. "Of course. I have no problem with letting ghosts up here as long as they don't break things and harm others. It would get boring up here otherwise. Plus, you're the coolest of them all." He was flattering her at this point, but she responded well to it, as he hair picked up slightly and grew a little with the praise, and he could almost make out the faintest traces of a bluish blush forming on her cheeks.

"Well..."

Danny chuckled. "Come on, what do you have to lose? Just try doing a concert without the mind control. I guarantee everyone will love it regardless."

She floated there for a moment, suspended in thought, before smiling at him. "Alright Babypop, you got a deal... I will give it a chance."

Danny gave her a clap and a genuine smile. "Sweet! And hey - I wouldn't mind some tickets..." He wiggled his brows at her, causing her to chuckle.

"You know what, Phantom?" With a sudden burst of speed to rival even his, she appeared infront of him with a grin. "You aren't so bad." She gave him a peck on the cheek before vanishing in a burst of a blue flames to go prepare for her first real concert, leaving a blushing Danny behind to wonder what just happened.

* * *

 **So it turns out I actually really like this pairing, and I would like to write for it more in the future. This is my first Danny Phantom story, so I would appreciate some feedback! I haven't actually watched this show in likek 6 years, but I still remEmber the characters pretty vividly. I hope I kept things in character. Also, I went a little Dragon Bally with Danny lol. Hope it wasn't too silly. I just love the idea of Danny training with Clockwork after the Disasteroid and becoming super powerful, like some Super Saiyan esque Goku thing.**

 **Hope you guys liked this, I will definitely make more of this pairing!**


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